In this paper we present the longest exposure (97 ks) XMM-Newton EPIC-pn spectrum ever obtained for the Seyfert 1.5 galaxy 1H 0419-577. With the aim of explaining the broadband emission of this source, we took advantage of the simultaneous coverage in the optical/UV that was provided in the present case by the XMM-Newton Optical Monitor and by a HST-COS observation. Archival FUSE flux measurements in the FUV were also used for the present analysis. We successfully modeled the X-ray spectrum together with the optical/UV fluxes data points using a Comptonization model. We found that a blackbody temperature of $T sim 56$ eV accounts for the optical/UV emission originating in the accretion disk. This temperature serves as input for the Comptonized components that model the X-ray continuum. Both a warm ($T_{rm wc} sim 0.7 $ keV, $tau_{rm wc} sim 7 $) and a hot corona ($T_{rm hc} sim 160 $ keV, $tau_{rm hc} sim 0.5$) intervene to upscatter the disk photons to X-ray wavelengths. With the addition of a partially covering ($C_vsim50%$) cold absorber with a variable opacity ($ {it N}_{rm H}sim [10^{19}- 10^{22}] ,rm cm^{-2}$), this model can well explain also the historical spectral variability of this source, with the present dataset presenting the lowest one (${it N}_{rm H}sim 10^{19} , rm cm^{-2} $). We discuss a scenario where the variable absorber, getting ionized in response to the variations of the X-ray continuum, becomes less opaque in the highest flux states. The lower limit for the absorber density derived in this scenario is typical for the broad line region clouds. Finally, we critically compare this scenario with all the different models (e.g. disk reflection) that have been used in the past to explain the variability of this source
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